Emma Thompson
23 FOLLOWERS • 64 CREDITS • APR 15, 1959 • 65
Biography
Dame Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to drama.
Born to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe, and appeared in the comedy sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she came to prominence for her performances in two BBC TV series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work on both series. In the early 1990s, she often collaborated with then-husband, actor and director Kenneth Branagh, in films such as Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
For her performance in the Merchant-Ivory period drama Howards End (1992), Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1993, she received two Academy Award nominations—Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of the housekeeper of a grand household in The Remains of the Day and a lawyer in In the Name of the Father, becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat. Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay—making her the only person in history to win Oscars for both acting and writing—and once again won the BAFTA. Further critical acclaim came for her roles in Primary Colors (1998), Love Actually (2003), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Late Night (2019), and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022).
Other notable film credits include the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), Nanny McPhee (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), An Education (2009), Men in Black 3 (2012) and the spin-off Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Cruella (2021), and Matilda the Musical (2022). Her television credits include Wit (2001), Angels in America (2003), The Song of Lunch (2010), King Lear (2018) and Years and Years (2019). Authorised by the publishers of Beatrix Potter, Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Graham Norton Show
Saturday Night Live
Cheers
Late Night with Seth Meyers
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
E! True Hollywood Story
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
The Jonathan Ross Show
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
My Father the Hero
Hoodwinked!
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Beauty and the Beast
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Burnt
An Education
Men in Black: International
Beautiful Creatures
Dolittle
Angels in America
I Am Legend
The Oscars
Missing Link
Men, Women & Children
Bridget Jones's Baby
Men in Black 3
Stranger Than Fiction
Brideshead Revisited
Last Christmas
The Meyerowitz Stories
Treasure Planet
Love Actually
In the Name of the Father
Junior
The Remains of the Day
Cruella
King Lear
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
Brave
Last Chance Harvey
Down Cemetery Road
The Children Act
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Howards End
Fortunes of War
The Love Punch
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Sense and Sensibility
Late Night
Saving Mr. Banks
Nanny McPhee
Years and Years
Production Credits
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